Quote of the Day

This story runs deeper than just some neighborhood opposition to a new subway entrance. It’s about a group of people who think they’re better than everyone else and want to keep their quote-unquote pristine block of urban space shoved between Lexington and Park Avenues in Manhattan, the nation’s most densely populated area, to themselves. This isn’t a quaint dispute with some self-centered Upper East Siders. It’s elitism, classism and maybe even some racism at its worst, and that deserves attention. – Ben Kabak, Second Ave Sagas.

Many of the arguments outlined by opponents to a subway entrance on 69th Street read a lot like those used by opponents of the Prospect Park West bike lane and the Fowler Square Plaza, although no one from NBBL ever made public comments that could even be remotely construed as racist.  (Although some Fort Greene residents did complain publicly about “undesirables” who might populate a proposed public plaza in “their” neighborhood.)  Still, Ben’s analysis is as applicable to certain parts of Brooklyn as it is to the Upper East Side.